Droney, "The Business of Getting Up"
Abstract "The Business of Getting Up: Street Art and Marketing in Los Angeles is a paper by Damien Droney about the similarities between subversive street art and corporate street art. Droney claims that similar to the way in which corporations put out images to facilitate brand recognition and familiarity, street artists put their artwork all over cities and all over public places to get their name out there - street art acts as a type of propoganda with a different agenda based on who the artist was. Droney compares street artists to a form of marketing and goes on to talk about how corporations have noticed this and have put out their own street art. Key Concepts Droney in his article addresses many different things, primarily he talks about how street art is a subversive act, how "getting up" or putting street art in places is a mixture of artwork and marketing, and the importance of fame in subculture. Street Art as Subversion Because street art is inherently law breaking, it is often portrayed as explicity anti-authority and anti-mainstream. One of the important driving factors behind street art is this criticism of the mainstream. Artists and proponents of subversive behavior see it as "cool" to go against the norm, especially if doing so means that people become aware of their own following of the mainstream. Street artists want to contest what they consider to be an inauthentic lifestyle that arises out of "image mediated capitalism". In his essay Droney quotes the street artist Kof of Project Rabbit, "Well, I feel like so many people, especially in Los Angeles, are so deep-rooted in their habits and the way that they experience life. I mean, growing up here my entire life, I’ve seen that mainly people my age and people that are growing up now, regardless of if they’re really rich or they’re really poor, they come up in the same kind of media-crazed world ... And I feel if they can look at something and be distracted from that crazed mentality for a second they’re being set free in a way. They’re kind of having a break from knowing exactly what it is that they’re being told by every message". Kof's attitude toward street art is reflective of what Droney describes many street artists to have. 1 Street Art - the Art of Marketing There is another side to street art, one with a much less subversive element. Droney discusses street art as it is used by corporations in order to market their products. While some consider this as street artists "selling out" and misrepresenting the message behind subversive street art, Droney considers corporate street art to have come from similar origins to "authentic" street art, often inspired by the same aesthetic styles that inspired street artists. Droney also describes effective examples of street art that were created or commisioned by corporations, as well as examples of corporate street art that were not as effective in execution. 1 Subculture and Fame Droney ends his essay by bridging the divide between corporate street art and "authentic" street art by claiming that they are both a form of marketing. While corporate marketing tries to sell a particular product or idea, "authentic" street art has the purpose of marketing a particular artist. The currency of fame is very important to street artists, often moreso than actual money. Name recognition is a deciding factor in when artists get work so by putting up more subversive messages street artists get their name out to a broader audience and generate fame. 1 Examples This street art is an example of corporate street art. It is an advertising strategy commissioned by McDonald's that uses the crosswalk as fries in its execution. Though this is street art, there is no subversive element to it and it is simply meant to sell a product/brand rather than convey a deeper message. This street art is an example of subversive street art that resembles the popular style of Banksy. It clearly has some message the artist is trying to convey in addition to the name of the artist. This is a good example of subversive street art in addition to an example of the artist attempting to make his name recognizable. The art is in the popular stencil style of Banksy that is easily recognizable and works effectively to get attention from passersby. Critical Conversation "The Business of Getting Up" has been referenced in around 12 other articles. 5 These articles vary in topic, a couple of them referenced this paper while discussing street art analysis, "Defining Visual Street Art: In Contrast to Political Stencils" 2 offering a critique by comparing street art to political street art, more specifically the aesthetic of stenciling. Another few articles concerning street art's legality, for example "Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination" 3 addressing why street art is illegal and what makes it subversive. A final common topic among these articles is the street art itself, "The Permanent Impermanence Project: What Role Can Museums Play in Street Art and Graffiti?" 4 and how (if) we can preserve it. See Also Graffiti Citations # Droney, Damien. "The business of “getting up”: Street art and marketing in Los Angeles." Visual Anthropology 23.2 (2010): 98-114. # Philipps, Axel. "Defining Visual Street Art: In Contrast to Political Stencils."Visual Anthropology 28.1 (2015): 51-66. # Young, Alison. Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination. Routledge, 2013. # Quinn, Hannah. The Permanent Impermanence Project: What Role Can Museums Play in Street Art and Graffiti?. Diss. 2015. # https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11892091484528014695&hl=en&as_sdt=400005&sciodt=0,14 Category:Reading Category:Media Category:Rhetorical